To those acquainted with the operation of semi-automatic pistols, the unintentional discharge of live rounds remaining in the chambers of such guns after removal of the magazine from the gun, has been an all too familiar story and often with unintended and tragic consequences. Recently, such unintentional firings appear to have increased in frequency and are believed to be due in part to the recent increase in the popularity of "ready-to-fire" double action semi-automatic pistols.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,648, which typifies the prior art magazine safety mechanisms, discloses a magazine safety in the form of a cantilever 62 which is pivotably mounted at one end, adjacent the after-end of the frame and a torsion spring 73 urges the forward end of the lever 62 downwardly so that in effect it monitors the presence or absence of a magazine in the handgrip of the pistol. With this arrangement, whenever the magazine 83 is removed from the magazine chamber of the handgrip of the gun, the safety lever 62 will be moved downwardly to engage and force the trigger bar 34 downwardly against the upward bias of the trigger spring 36. Conversely, whenever a magazine is inserted into the magazine chamber of the gun, the lever 62 will be deflected upwardly enabling the spring 36 to bias the trigger bar upward. In that way, the sear 42 that extends upwardly of the rear end of the trigger bar can engage the firing pin sear 43 that extends downwardly from the firing pin 21 to cause the gun to be fired. On the other hand, when the magazine is removed from the gun, the safety lever 62 will force the trigger bar downward so that it cannot fire the gun because the sear 42 will be disposed at a level below that of the firing pin sear 43 so that the firing pin 21 cannot be cocked and released by the trigger bar 34, as is required for firing the gun. This arrangement will thus prevent the unintentional discharge of a round being in the chamber of the gun when the magazine is removed.
Among the drawbacks of the magazine safety over the prior art, as exemplified by the above-referenced Pat. No. 4,031,648 is that the safety spring 73 must have sufficient force to ensure that it will be capable of overcoming the upward component of force imparted to the trigger bar by trigger spring 36. Any failure or weakness of the safety spring 73 will result in the safety failing in an unsafe condition. In that connection, moreover, there would be no indication to the user of the gun whether or not the magazine safety is operative inasmuch as in either case, the trigger bar would be moveable in response to actuation of the trigger. As a result, one using such a gun could easily be mislead into believing that the safety is operative, when in fact it may not be.
The principal object of this invention is to provide a magazine safety mechanism that is simple, compact and reliable in operation and which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a magazine safety in a pistol having a double action, striker-firing pin type firing mechanism.
A further object of this invention is to provide a magazine safety mechanism which is "fail safe" in operation.
In accordance with this invention, a magazine safety is provided in a pistol having a double action, striker-firing pin type firing mechanism. The trigger is connected by a trigger bar to move a pivotable sear which in turn causes the firing pin to move rearwardly to compress the firing pin spring until the firing pin is fully cocked and then released thereby. The sear includes a laterally extending pin releasably engageable by the trigger bar to control the cocking and release of the firing pin. The magazine safety comprises a lever pivotably mounted adjacent its rear end to the frame of the gun and with a spring urging the lever downwardly so that a forward end portion of said lever is continually urged by the force of gravity and said spring toward a position for engaging a portion of the magazine when positioned in the pistol or is being inserted therein. A downwardly opening recess is provided at the outer end portion of the lever to engage the laterally extending pin of the sear to prevent movement of or to "lock" the firing pin against being cocked or released to fire the pistol whenever there is no magazine disposed in the pistol.
The above and other objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily apparent from a reading of the claims in light of the specific and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: